


Never Could Resist

by astraplain



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:11:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4461335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraplain/pseuds/astraplain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As soon as the Boy Wonder uttered the word, Michael knew he was lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Could Resist

**Author's Note:**

> writing prompt: experimentation

Experiment.

As soon as the Boy Wonder uttered the word, Michael knew he was lost. Even though he had never been a good student, he loved science lab. He remembered all those Saturday afternoons watching science fiction movies, shivering with a secret thrill every time he heard the word. He day-dreamed away hours imagining himself making world-changing discoveries and saving the world like his hero Captain Astro, who was - of course - a brilliant scientist.

Damn it.

Which explained why he ended up spending an entire Tuesday afternoon at the loft letting the twink-who-never-left try to asphyxiate him.

Oh, he complained plenty, of course, especially when he arrived for the covert experiment to "make something really cool to surprise Brian" only to discover his own part was much closer to that of the hapless assistant - the one who always ended up turned into a monster or dead in those old movies.

Well, sort of.

Actually, he just had to sit there while Justin combed his hair back then smoothed petroleum jelly or some other shit all over his face. Justin made some remark about never having lubed someone's face before and he remembered smiling and not minding the clammy feel of the first strip of plaster-coated gauze quite as much as he thought he would.

In fact, the whole thing wasn't bad at all, until that moment when the cloth settled over his eyes and he felt a tiny surge of... discomfort.

Not fear.

Suddenly he was breathing faster and his hands were gripping the arms of the chair. Without realizing it, his legs were tensing as if ready to stand and he almost opened his mouth, but he couldn't, because of the plaster.

"Michael, it's OK."

He never realized how soft Justin's hands were - hadn't ever had reason to think about it really. He remembered how warm they were against his neck and shoulders, just resting there, not stroking or anything weird, just calming.

The Boy Wonder's voice could make him crazy but right then he was grateful for the enthusiastic little shit and his monologue about how great it would be to have this cool mask to give to Brian. He blathered on about how he'd learned this in class and had been anxious to try it, waiting for a time when Brian would away on business long enough to get it done. Much sooner than expected, the plaster was set and the mask could be removed.

He had to admit, the Boy Wonder had been gentle, and getting the mask off had been relatively painless.

By the time Michael was free, he could tell Boy Wonder's hand was starting to tire, but it didn't slow him down. So Michael sighed, wiped the gunk off his face, and helped to clean up.

Together they packed away the life mask and cleared away all signs of their experiment. It was almost six and Michael wanted to get back to the comic store to help Vic close up for the evening while Justin wanted to get the mask over to the Munchers where he'd work on it for Brian's surprise.

Despite the whole almost-not-being-able-to-breathe thing, it really hadn't been that bad. And now...

.........................................................................................................................................................................

Michael set the box down carefully and looked up at Brian, then over at the young man beside him.

"Happy Birthday, Mikey." Brian leaned over and kissed the top of his head. "From Rage and JT."

The others crowded around to see, oohing and aahing over the long, deep-set wooden box containing three life masks painted and decorated to resemble the heroes of Michael and Justin's comic.

The effect was startlingly real, yet surreal - three extremely lifelike heads suspended against a dark velvet background, the comic logo centered above Brian/Rage's masked visage in the center with Michael/Zephyr on the left and Justin/JT on the right. Three small engraved silver plates identifying the characters beneath.

Conversation flowed around Michael but he found himself drifting somewhere else, staring at the trio of heads staring back at him.

"Hey Mikey..." Brian dropped onto the arm of Michael's chair and leaned close, putting an arm around him and drawing him into a one-armed hug. "I think we should do our asses next - make a matched set." He glanced over at Justin who looked up and smiled, then returned to his conversation with Debbie. The smirk on Brian's face told Michael more than he needed or wanted to know about what other body parts Justin might have already experimented with.

No, stop it. He really *didn't* want to know.

But there was one thing...

"Brian, I know how Boy Wonder talked me into sitting for my mask." They'd given Brian the mask as a gift several months ago and Michael had had no idea Justin had made more castings. "But how did he do his own and yours?"

"Some kid at school did his - that's what got Justin into this in the first place. He found out it wasn't as bad as he'd expected and he really liked the results so..."

Michael watched as Brian and Justin's eyes met. They smiled at each other and for a moment the room was warmer and brighter.

But still, Michael had to know.

"So how'd he get you to..."

Brian turned his head slowly, and the room light seemed to go back to normal as he leaned in close, his lips to Michael's ear. "You know me, Mikey. I never could resist... an interesting experiment."


End file.
